Durga Pujo’s here, and it’s that time of the year when you head over to a Bengali friend’s house for a royal feast. “You want to know why there are so few Bengali entrepreneurs?” asks Soumitra Ghosh, owner of the popular Bengali food joint Hangla’s, which incidentally has been named so thanks to the community’s love for food. “Blame it on the food. On an average, a Bengali spends 80 per cent of his earnings on food. During the five days of Durga Pujo, we lose our heads over food and the variety available, and our spending jumps to 200 per cent!” he laughs.

For most Bengalis, memories of Pujo are laced with the nostalgic aroma of food. Fifty four year-old homemaker Bina Baroi couldn’t agree more. “This is the one time in the year that the entire family gets together. When we were in Kolkata, we’d leave the house in the evening, after a hearty meal, and roam from pandal to pandal till about 4 am. An endless supply of samosas, sweets and Mughlai Parathas kept us going,” she reminisces. “This is also the only time we can eat anything and as much as we want and get away with it,” smiles the Churchgate- resident.

Forty seven year-old Reba Mukherjee, a Churchgate-based fashion designer, agrees. “Good food and Bengali celebrations go hand in hand, and Durga Puja is the real deal. With it getting bigger and better every year, and with caterers coming down all the way from Kolkata, we are spoilt for choice. I don’t enter the kitchen throughout the festival. In fact, it’s not just Bengalis, but a lot of Maharashtrian and Gujarati friends too who love the fare at the pandals. Forget diets and health problems, this season is purely dedicated to celebration,” she says.

Rossogolla
This dish is the easiest to make and
is relished by sweet lovers all year round
ingredients:
1 litre milk
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
Rose essence
Water